German Preliminary Published Application DE 198 39 777 describes an electric microscope. The invention described there males it easy to apply liquid onto a specimen when an immersion objective is moved into or out of the optical path. The microscope comprises an electric revolving nosepiece that carries several objectives. A nosepiece rotational position sensor detects the rotational position of the nosepiece in order to thus obtain information about the objective that is presently located in the optical path. The information as to whether the objectives are immersion objectives or dry objectives is stored in a storage unit. During the change-over from one objective to the next, the movement is stopped in the middle between two rotational positions if the objective currently located in the optical path or the next objective is an immersion objective. This middle position is indicated to the user in the form of a signal or an alarm. The objective data is entered using a data input unit. The objective data comprises the following: immersion objective, dry objective, magnification, working distance, numerical aperture, parfocal length. This data is stored in accordance with the position of the individual objectives in the nosepiece. The data can be recorded using a barcode reader or a numerical keypad. A drawback of the invention is that each microscope has to be associated with a data input unit and the data input cannot be extended to all motorized or automated elements of a microscope.